impair
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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impairs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
impaired,
past participle, past
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impairing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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impairs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
impaired,
past participle, past
-
impairing
present participle
noun
adjective
verb
Synonym Usage
See injure.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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impairernoun
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impairmentnoun
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nonimpairmentnoun
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preimpairmentnoun
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impairableadjective
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self-impairableadjective
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self-impairingadjective
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unimpairableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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impairsimple
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impairssimple
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have impairedperfect
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has impairedperfect
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am impairingprogressive
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are impairingprogressive
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is impairingprogressive
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have been impairingperfect progressive
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has been impairingperfect progressive
Past
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impairedsimple
-
had impairedperfect
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was impairingprogressive
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were impairingprogressive
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had been impairingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of impair1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English empairen, empeiren “to make worse,” from Middle French empeirer, from em- im- 1 + peirer “to make worse” (from Late Latin pējōrāre, verb derivative of Latin pējor “worse”; cf. pejoration)
Origin of impair2
First recorded in 1820–30; from French: literally, “odd,” from Latin impār “odd, unequal”; equivalent to im- 2 ( def. ) + pair 2 ( def. )
Explanation
If you make bad decisions in the morning after drinking coffee, you might conclude that caffeine tends to impair your judgment. When you impair something, you damage it or make it work poorly. The root of the verb impair traces back to the Latin word pejorare, meaning “to make worse,” and that’s still what happens if you impair something. Whether it’s communication, visibility, or your marriage prospects, if you impair it, you make it worse. The word can be used for situations that describe something that has deteriorated, such as “Snow continued to impair driving conditions.”
Vocabulary lists containing impair
List 6
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 5
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United States v. Nixon (1974)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Weak capex would leave Japan behind in the global competition for strategic investments and impair future supply capacity, the bank says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
She said the scale, height, and mass of the new ballroom would impair her aesthetic, cultural, and historical interests in viewing and appreciating the White House.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
“Gondola cars encased in digital ads, flying 26 feet overhead every 25-30 seconds would irreparably impair the vista, and the sense of calm and escape from urban life,” wrote former state parks director Ruth Coleman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
These man-marked players were able to impair the movement of the South Korean defenders but given the stricter refereeing on grappling in the box, we have not seen teams crowd the six-yard box much.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
All rulers of all ages have tried to impose a false view of the world upon their followers, but they could not afford to encourage any illusion that tended to impair military efficiency.
From "1984" by George Orwell
This damage impairs the ability of nerves to carry electrical messages from the brain to the rest of the body - including those needed for the precise control of muscles needed to walk.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
High blood sugar impairs immune function and narrows vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood, making it harder for skin to heal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
That may or may not come to pass, but how we behave around others either impairs or enhances our reputation.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
This, he says, erodes confidence and impairs performance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
This blindness impairs us in every act of communication.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Archuleta, whose granddaughter was killed by an impaired driver, said working to turn the bill into law was a personal fight for him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Brightline’s taxable bondholders are also expected to be heavily impaired.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
But today you have the Strait of Hormuz impaired.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
When these local connections showed poorer integrity, gray matter loss was more strongly associated with impaired language performance and broader cognitive difficulties.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
Even if they’re looking at the road, he’d found, their visual acuity was impaired by the cognitive demand of the phone.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
The Cheshire native suffered a stroke in 2013, impairing his ability to walk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
In implementing the law, the government further defined "harm" to include "significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding or sheltering."
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
The longer these companies leave addictive, impairing features in place, the more plaintiffs they’ll create.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
“In particular, how effective drones are in impairing production and transportation of crude via the Strait of Hormuz.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 28, 2026
This is because the act of describing a face has the effect of impairing your otherwise effortless ability to subsequently recognize that face.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
